Bottle shipping case



Feb. 8, 1944. c. L. LOCKE 2,341,150

I BOTTLE SHIPPING CASE Filed Oct. 17, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jr 709N4- v.3.

Patented Feb. 8, 1944 i 1' UNITED, mm PATENT or-Pics Gharles LnLocke, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor, .by mesne assignments, to Guaranty Container Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana sAnplicationflct-oberl'l, 1940, Serial No. 361,499

2 Claims. (01.229-28) This invention relates :to a shipping or delivery case for a plurality .of bottles, containers, and the like.

A primary object o'fthe invention is to provide dispensers of goods to be delivered in --relatively small-containers and particularly fragile contain- :ers with acase that has an initially lowcost and one in which a fiber holder .is reen'forced by a metal framework in such manner that the fiber holder may be replaced frequently either on account of damage in transit or storageorto supply new advertising or display matter.

A further primary object of the invention is to provide a structure of the type above indicated wherein the fiber holder itself may be made very simply without stapled :or glued :corners or the like and without waste of stock or use of complicated dies. *In fac't the invention contemplates the reduction of the fiber holder to not more than two simply cut-pieces of fiber zboard completely supported and retained in boxlike shape by the :metal reenforcing element. This metal reenforcing element is made to be sufficiently durable as to be used over :and over again and is employed to permit stacking of the cases, one on the other, without any of theload .being carried on the fiber holder itself.

These and many other objects :and advantages of theinvention .will'become apparent to those versed in the art in'the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a structure embodying thelinvention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view with the holder in an :open position;

Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 in Fig. -1;

Fig. 4, a view in perspective of one of the fiber .holder elements;

crectangular tray. Preferably this floor :l disproments.

vided with a plurality of longitudinally and "transversely disposed downwardly extending ribs [2 and [3 respectively crossing each other a Plurality of times remote from their ends, formed by pressing metal downwardly from the inner-or topside of the floor ill. The purpose of these ribs is to space the floor of the case upwardly .the height of the ribs so that moisture from a storage floor or the like will not be directlyconducted through openings in the case floor. An-

other object of these ribs-isto provide a reduced To each corner of the floor I0 about the flange .II is secured an upright post IS in an L-shape so as to extend around the corner of the flange H in .each instance to have a leg of .the vpost secured on the end and the :side respectively portions of the flange ll by any suitable means,

such as by Welding. The upper ends of these posts I5, four in number, terminate at the desired elevation and carry therewithin at their top ends a metal band It to extend entirely around in a rectangular shape in parallelism with the upturned flange v1 1. The top edge of the .band I6 is preferably rolled outwardly and over a reenforcing wire I! to give added thickness to the top edge and to increase the rigidity of the band. Also the under edge of the :band 16 as well :as the top edge of the flange II is preferably folded around upwardly and downwardly respectively,

as indicated in Fig. 3, to form rounded edges.

Intermediate the central portions of the end or transverse parts of the top band I6 is fixed a plate IE to the inner side thereof to have .a

lower edge rolled around cylindrically to-extend under the band I6 and come around 'and upwardly and back against the outer face of the .band to forma roll 19, as bestindicatedin1Fig.: 8. These rolls 19 form convenient grips by which the case may be lifted.

The description so far given applies to the permanent part of the case. As shown by the drawings, the lower flange ll and=theupper band within the metal framework above described. Inv the simplest form herein shown, one piece of the fiber board is scored to be folded as indicated" in Fig. 4 wherein there is a rectangular floor piece of such dimensions that it will fit within the metallic case above described and rest on the floor l0. From that floor piece 20 extends a side wall 2| integrally therefrom along the fold line 22. dimension to have it extend from the floor piece 20 vertically upwardly within the flange H and the top band I6 to the top edge of the band IE or preferably just therebelow, as indicated in Fig. 3.

Then a cover piece 23 extending integrallyfrom the side piece 2| from a fold line 24 at the top of the piece 2| is formed to have substantially the same dimensions as the fioor piece 20 and a retaining fiap 25 is turned downwardly along the outer line of the cover 23.

Then to complete the walls of the fiber holder, a second piece, as shown in Fig. 5, is formed to have a major side wall 26 conforming in dimensions to the side wall 2| of the first piece. From the ends of this side wall 26 are turned the end walls 21 and 28 respectively. These end walls are dimensioned to position the wall 26 substantially against the inner sides of the flange I and band It as well as the opposite wall 2| of the other piece of the holder. The first holder piece,

as shown in Fig; 4, is placed within the metal case and then the second piece, as shown in Fig. 5, is

placed therein, assuming the box shape as shown in Fig. 6. Then the divider boards 29 are dropped within the holder. These divider boards, of

This side wall 2| is given the proper course, maintain the ends 21 and 28 in position against the end portions of the lower fiange II and the top band H5. The cover 23 may then be brought down and the flap 25 inserted over the outside of the wall 26 and .inside of the band IS, the under edge of the flap 25 terminating immediately above the inner upturned edge of the band I6 to rest preferably directl thereon. Preferably the end walls' 21 and 28 of the holder are provided with hand holes 30 and 3| respectively to be located immediately at the hand holds l9 of the metal case so that these holes may serve to permit entrance therethrough of. the fingers of the operator.

In further reference to the positioning of the two fiber holder pieces within the metal case, the 1 end walls 2'i and 28 with the end portions of the flange II and band ldprevent those side walls from slipping outwardly from that abutting relationship. As above indicated, the divider boards 29, when dropped within the fiber holder, maintain the end pieces 21 and 28 in contact with the=v flange and band 16 on each end.

Thus it is to be seen that with the more or less permanent metallic case, an inner enclosing fiber holder is provided that is sufficiently simple in construction that it may be replaced on each-1' shipment or distribution of the goods to be carried in the case. In this manner, a new, sanitary. clean holder is available with each shipment of goods and furthermore the exposed area of the side and end walls of the fiber holder may carry advertising matter or trade-marks and the like to be varied in accordance with the particular goods within the holder and also to be varied with the different seasons of the year if so desired. As opposed to the heretofore use of a fiber carton without metal reenforcing, there is less cost involved by the use of the present invention on each trip of the metal case. Also there is the-important advantage in the present invention by reason of the fact that when the old cases are picked up from the customers place of business, it is generally the practice to pick up the same number of cases that have been previously delivered and this means that in this number there may be cases supplied by other distributors or manufacturers so that in one pick-up group there may be cases carrying the names of several different manufacturers. This situation required a cost of sorting and returning and exchanging cases. With the present invention, if this situation arises where a case is returned with the name of a manufacturer other than the one picking up the case, all that is necessary is to remove the fiber holder and replace it with the correct one, a matter of extremely low cost as compared to the cost of a fiber carton sufficiently heavy in construction to stand shipment without the metal supporting case. All of this is accomplished without any set-up cost as to stitching, stapling, or gluing operations.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed such, for example,.as in the details of design of the fiber holder and also in the exact formation of the supporting metal case, without departing from the spirit of the invention and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a shipping case, a fixed rigid support comprising a floor of sheet metal with an upwardly extending marginal fiange and a plurality of longitudinal and transverse depending ribs located inwardly of the marginal flange and crossing eachother a plurality of times remote from their ends, said floor having a plurality of drainage holes between the ribs, L-shaped corner members extending upwardly from the floor and an encircling band secured to said members spaced above the floor and having a pair of oppositely disposed grip rolls; and a separate, replaceable fiber holder with free wall members fitted within the support to be maintained in box-like shape thereby, said holder resting on said fioor and extending upwardly within said band, said holder comprising one section having a bottom piece, a side wall piece and a top 'enclosing piece, and a second section separate from the first section and having two end walls and a side wall hinged to the end walls, each of said end walls having a hand hole cooperating with the respective grip rolls of the top band.

2. In a shipping case, a fixed rigid support comprising a floor of one piece continuous metal with a plurality of intersecting ribs distributed over the whole floor and having perforations be- .tween the ribs, corner members extending upwardly from the floor and an encircling band secured to said members spaced above the floor thereby, said holder resting on said floor and extending upwardly within said band and having hand holes cooperating with the grip rolls of the band; and divider members in the holder resist- 5 ing inward movement of the otherwise said free having case-end portions; a plate fixed to each case-end portion having its lower edge formed under the band into a hand grip roll; and a separate, replaceable fiber holder comprising two separate sections each formed from an initially fiat blank with free wall members fitted within the support to be maintained in complete boxlike shape and against outward displacement wall members.

CHARLES L. LOCKE. 

